Legal Insights

July 7, 2021

Fancy Buzz Words or A Real Threat? Hacked Evidence in International Arbitration

Legal tech, digital evidence, hacked evidence… these all are trending buzz words in a field that lawyers appear to conquer these days. At the same time, lawyers must be aware of the new risks associated with that innovation. Whatever is digital, can eventually be hacked. Possibly, the client will…

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April 6, 2021

The Singapore Mediation Convention: An Effective Enforcement Mechanism?

Mediation’s main disadvantage as an international dispute resolution method is its difficulty enforcing settlements. The Singapore Convention addresses this problem. It aims to mirror in the world of mediation the 1958 New York Convention's role in the world of arbitration. Namely, the Singapore…

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September 14, 2020

Taming Achmea: The Addiko Tribunal Pulls the Handbrake

In June 2020, the ICSID tribunal in Addiko Bank v Croatia rendered a decision on Croatia’s jurisdictional objection which was based on the alleged incompatibility of the BIT with the EU acquis, i.e. the body of common rights and obligations that are binding on all EU Members, including the Achmea…

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June 17, 2020

Drafting Sustainable Development Friendly Investment Agreements

Sustainable International Investment Agreements (IIAs) must safeguard the balance of the overall give and take between the foreign investor and the host state as well as between economic, environmental and social priorities. Therefore, drafting Sustainable Development friendly IIAs involves a…

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May 12, 2020

The New Agreement Terminating intra-EU BITs – A Short Overview

On 5 May 2020, 23 EU states have signed the “Agreement for the Termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between the Member States of the European Union”.

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April 30, 2020

Interpreting International Investment Agreements (IIAs) in a Sustainable Development Friendly Way

In the Brundtland Report, Sustainable Development was defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". In this sense, the notion of Sustainable Development encompasses a balance between three "interdependent…

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February 12, 2020

Recent Austrian Supreme Court Jurisprudence on Arbitrator Bias

In a recently rendered decision (18 OCg 5/19p), the Austrian Supreme Court departed from its previous practice of setting aside arbitral awards on grounds of arbitrator bias only in particularly glaring cases. As a consequence, future challenges no longer need to meet this high threshold. However,…

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December 11, 2019

Trapped in Humanity: Unconscious Bias Within Perception and Decision-Making in Arbitration

In dispute resolution, the skill of coherent and convincing “storytelling” is essential for an attorney to win its case. Similarly, as arbitrators are given substantial authority by the parties, transparent and rational decision-making may be of crucial importance to fruitfully resolve a dispute.

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November 6, 2019

The Subjective Scope of Pre-Insolvency Arbitration Agreements

In November 2018, the Austrian Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision (18 ONc 2/18s), clarifying that an arbitral tribunal may verify the accuracy of a claim that is subject to insolvency proceedings despite the otherwise exclusive jurisdiction of the insolvency court, provided that the…

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